Michigan point guard Trey Burke grew up in Ohio State country, but plays college hoops in Ann Arbor. How's that happen? AP photo

ANN ARBOR -- College basketball recruiting is full of hits and misses.

Every school, at one point or another, has found a diamond in the rough. And, at the same time, every school has also completely overlooked a potential gamechanger in its own backyard.

It happens. All the time.

So, it's only natural that we still get Michigan basketball questions about Trey Burke and Ohio State -- questions like, how could the Buckeyes miss on a Columbus-born prospect like this?

That's where we'll start this week's mailbag. As always, if you have a question you'd like answered next week, shoot me an email at nbaumgardner@mlive.com.

On we go:

Question: Nick, Do you think Thad Matta is regretting not going after Burke? Or do you think he's pretty happy with Shannon Scott? -- MichBoy40

A: Well, congrats to MichBoy40 for doing his research and saving me a step here. Ohio State obviously valued Shannon Scott higher than Burke during its recruitment for the 2011 class, and went in that direction.

Thad Matta completely passed it off as no big deal last year before these two teams met for the first time, and Trey Burke tried his best to act like it wasn't a big deal -- but for him, it absolutely is and always will be.

He grew up in Columbus, for crying out loud, you don't think he wanted to be a Buckeye? Absolutely.

Now, Shannon Scott's no slouch -- he's actually fourth in the Big Ten in assists this season (just one behind teammate Aaron Craft). But Burke's arguably the top point guard in the country. Did Ohio State miss on Burke? Absolutely.

Does Matta regret it? I doubt it. Ohio State made the Final Four last year. Can't argue with that.

Question: How is Austin Hatch doing, and is he still planning to enroll / play at the UM? -- Markus von Steinfort

A: Markus, Hatch has been given conditional clearance to practice with his Fort Wayne Canterbury team, but he hasn't played in a game just yet. It still looks like a day-to-day situation there, and no one is rushing anything.

Nor should they.

Hatch still hopes to play basketball this season in high school, and has been given an extra year of eligibility to play in 2013-14 as well. As for college? He still plans on enrolling in Michigan, and as far as I know, Michigan is still holding a scholarship for him for the 2014 class.

He was originally going to be part of the 2013 class when he committed, but has since reclassified.

Question: Nick, do you see Stauskas' head growing out of control like I do? He loves to congratulate himself after making a shot while neglecting to cover his man down the floor. He consistently got beat defensively playing WV, what's the deal? -- winkiemoose

A: I think saying his head is out of control might be taking this a step too far. He's an extremely confident player, and he does have plenty of swagger. He said a few words to the West Virginia bench after knocking down a triple the other night, and got whacked with a technical for it.

Which was deserved.

But head out of control? The guy is shooting better than 54 percent from 3-point range -- that's pretty good. He's a terrific shooter, and he knows it.

I think, honestly, Michigan wants him teetering on that edge of confidence and cockiness with his shot -- he thinks he can make everything, and they want him to try. The alternative is to beat him down until he's lost confidence in his ability to shoot.

And no one in this situation wants that. They're going to let him play.

Question: I am wondering how big of a loss you think losing Horford is.? -- Aaron Stein and AutoDrip4

A: It's big, guys. No sugar coating this one.

Horford is another 6-foot-10, 250-pound body that has five fouls, has the ability to defend at a high level and get you second-chance shots on offense. You can't recreate that.

Michigan State has two big bodies in Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne, but when Horford's healthy, Michigan has three. Not a lot of teams can say that.

Michigan is hoping Max Bielfeldt can come in and fill Horford's shoes off the bench in that third big man role, but Bielfeldt simply can't do some of the things Horford can. He's not the defender Horford is, and he's nowhere near the shot-blocker Horford is.

In my opinion, this puts more pressure on Mitch McGary and his development. McGary has to become more consistent, he has to stay out of foul trouble and he has to harness himself at times.

The Wolverines are confident Horford can return to the court this season, but until then, there's absolutely a hole in the rotation that needs filling.

Question: Nick: My concern is that Michigan has shown a propensity to allow teams back into games consistently this season (against the big conference teams). Additionally, the shooting percentage for the opposition has been pretty high quite often. What is your take on the defensive efforts, and will this come back and bite the Wolverines? -- heartbreakM

A: I'll start with the back end first. North Carolina State and Bradley are the only two teams to shoot better than 50 percent against Michigan.

The Wolfpack were very good inside, and scored a ton of points on easy layups off careless turnovers -- helping aid their percentage. Bradley was at home, and was hitting everything it tossed into the air.

Actually, in seven of the team's 12 wins, teams have shot worse than 40 percent. I think what you're seeing is a byproduct of blowing teams out early. It looks like that percentage might be higher in garbage time than it really is.

As far as allowing teams to creep back in? That's a tough deal for anyone. It's hard to consistently outplay a team by 20 points for 40 minutes, especially a team that's good.

Question: Who do you see closing out this Michigan class? -- Logan Hukill

A: In 2013, Michigan might be about done. The Wolverines seem to be spending almost all of their time right now on 2014 and 2015, and are very comfortable with their three signees that make up a top 15 class.

Of course, early departures to the NBA could change some of this, at which point, Michigan may re-evaluate in the spring -- like it did last year with Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht.

Question: Do you think Mitch McGary will develop any type of offensive game this year to help low post scoring? -- Matthew Seltzer

A: Good question, Matthew. I'm not sure. And I'm not sure Michigan really needs him to either. Right now, all of his points are coming in transition and on second-chance opportunities.

If he does that all season and averages 8 points, I think Beilein's happy. He's still learning a lot about college hoops, and some of that polish will have to come in time.

•••

Thanks again to everyone who participated. And, as always, if you've got a mailbag question you want answered, shoot me an email at nbaumgardner@mlive.com -- or find me on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.